Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 339

This is an innate human instinct; people with commonalities will gather together because of need.

But as long as Lu Wei himself is still around, there is no need to worry about the damage caused by such collusion and competition. In fact, such collusion and competition may even promote the growth of the new empire.

In most problems in the world, it is difficult to find a fixed, correct answer, but it is easy to find a compromise that best suits oneself.

Whether it's the Chu faction, the Wei faction, or later the Zhao faction, the Yan faction, and the old Qi faction, no matter how many forces there are, these factions will ultimately depend on Lu Wei for survival.

He personally wrote the letter, placed it in the letter box of the mechanical wooden kite, and then His Highness Prince Qi released it into the air.

This advanced technology from the Mohist school will bypass the towering Hangu Pass and enter Guanzhong to be delivered to Tian Guang.

These past few days, he's been having quite a bit of fun with Ji Yan, Duanmu Rong, and other women. The young master of the Yin-Yang School, who was sent to the front lines to be used as servants, has also joined in. The study is in a mess. Since the fighting has already broken out at Hangu Pass, Lu Wei naturally can no longer indulge in pleasure, so he came to patrol the camp outside the city.

The flat land in front of Hangu Pass is narrow, and the number of soldiers who can attack the city each time is limited. When Ying Bu attacked, the next batch of attacking soldiers were resting.

Dian Qing silently accompanied Prince Qi. This old general's hair was not only gray but also half of it had fallen out. He was over sixty years old. Although his exposed muscles were still strong, his face had been etched with rough wrinkles. Upon closer inspection, he looked even older than Li Mu.

The mission of the Wei Wuzu was to win wars, but since the fall of Wei and joining the peasant faction, Dian Qing had long been accustomed to the tranquility of Dazeshan and had lost all interest in the battlefield.

However, practical needs dictate that this elderly man, who preferred to enjoy his retirement, must be at the forefront, and the strongest fighting force of the Armored Gate cannot be wasted on merely serving as guards.

On the other hand, Dian Qing was indeed a Wei person, but he was not a representative of the so-called Wei faction. He was always a loyal supporter of Lu Wei himself.

In terms of ability, Dian Qing was not suitable to be a commander of an army. He could only lead three thousand men to charge into the enemy lines at most. He had no sophisticated tactics and was even more ruthless than Ying Bu. Therefore, Lu Wei did not intend to use him to attack a dangerous pass like Hangu Pass from the beginning.

His Highness Prince Qi only sends out his favorite generals when it's time to boost Dianqing's score.

"Your Highness, Prince Qi!"

In the military camp, Mei San Niang, carrying a huge sickle, stopped casually by the roadside and bowed when she saw her senior brother and Lu Wei walking over.

She addressed him as "Your Highness Prince Qi," but her manner of greeting was that of a江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the martial arts world) person. Mei San Niang's tomboyish nature was hard to change, and Lu Wei, being magnanimous, didn't care. For someone of humble origins, etiquette was merely a tool, not a necessity.

Moreover, in terms of status, he is always the one who scrutinizes others' etiquette, while no one has the right to question whether his understanding is wrong.

Mei San Niang was also a fierce general in the Qi army. Since the battle from Licheng to Hangu Pass, she often charged ahead of Dian Qing with her sickle. She harbored hatred for the Qin state and also for her original home state, Wei. She was also a loyal follower of Lu Wei.

The unique characteristics of the Armored Sect make it easy for them to produce chivalrous and righteous individuals.

The peasant school will inevitably disappear slowly after the establishment of the new empire. His Highness Prince Qi himself relied on the peasant school to start his army, and it is impossible for him to allow a school of thought with the potential to grow into a school of 100,000 disciples to continue to develop.

Mr. Lu has a habit of being petty and blocking the path to success that others have taken for him.

However, the Armored Sect was able to remain in the martial arts world as a direct descendant of the royal family.

The problems that Ying Zheng failed to solve during his lifetime, he was to continue to address after taking over the reins. Suppressing the various schools of thought and placing them under the control of the empire was a necessity to strengthen centralized power.

"Third Sister has killed countless enemies on the battlefield. I wonder what kind of reward she desires after the war?"

Smiling, Lu Wei gestured for Mei San Niang to dispense with formalities and casually asked, "..."

Mei San Niang has been serving him for fifteen or sixteen years and has made great contributions. In order to show his love for his soldiers, His Highness Prince Qi plans to publicly promise her a reward, so as to encourage more soldiers to be willing to sacrifice their lives for him.

Although it was rare for women to be granted titles in this era, it was not impossible.

However, upon hearing this question, Mei San Niang, unusually, did not display her usual rough manner. Instead, she lowered her head and pondered for a moment before saying, "San Niang has no hobbies. If Your Highness Prince Qi wishes to reward me, you might as well exchange the rewards given to the Armored Gate for grain to help the refugees."

Lu Wei and Mei San Niang's first encounter began with a robbery...

At that time, Mei San Niang wanted to seize the grain that the farmers were helping to provide to the refugees in Wei, but she was defeated by Lu Wei in one move and, accepting her loss, joined the farmers.

Even after all these years, she still hasn't forgotten her original aspirations. It seems that this person is destined to be 'unqualified' to become a 'high and mighty' nobleman.

“Yes, Your Highness, Prince Qi.” Dian Qing also spoke up: “We fought at the Armored Gate for Your Highness and for the people. We are willing to give our lives for Your Highness and our wealth for the people... We are just a bunch of rough men, and our salary is enough for us to drink.”

His simple and unadorned speech was not intended to win popular support through pretense: the Armored Clan should have been wiped out because of Wei's defeat, but they are still alive. Dian Qing has long since lost all worldly desires, and under his influence as the sect leader, the entire Armored Clan is the same.

"I cannot agree to this."

Upon hearing his two subordinates' statements, Lu Wei's expression turned solemn. He shook his head, and before their surprised expressions could show, he firmly declared, "My empire will no longer have refugees needing to flee. It will be a vast and prosperous land, not the mausoleum of the tyrannical Qin Dynasty!"

He used his internal energy to extend the range of his words to nearly half of the military camp. The camp fell silent for two breaths, then a deafening roar of "Long live the Emperor!" echoed through the sky...

Chapter 431 North-South War

The battle-hardened soldiers, armed with long spears, charged forward in neat formation, flanked by swarms of Qin cavalry. The Qi army could not withstand them and scattered in all directions.

Wang Li stood on high ground, took out the "Heavenly Glasses" of the Gongshu family to observe the direction of the Qi army's escape, and chuckled: "Have the army slowly stop, clean up the battlefield, and there is no need to pursue them."

A retreat is always a risky move, and feigned defeat rarely works. The most famous example is Sun Bin's "reducing the number of cooking stoves" strategy.

If they fail, the fleeing troops may turn their feigned defeat into a real and devastating one.

Wang Li observed that the Qi army's retreat was somewhat orderly amidst the chaos, which meant that even if it was a genuine defeat, it at least indicated that the enemy's commander was capable. The worst possibility was that the enemy had set up an ambush along their retreat route.

The number of battle-hardened armored soldiers and some Anbei cavalry was ultimately no match for the enemy, so there was no need to take the risk.

As his orders were issued layer by layer, Wang Li tapped the 'Heavenly Eye' in his hand and sighed softly: "It's a pity that the Gongshu family has actually defected to the enemy, and our army doesn't have many of these Heavenly Eyes left."

"General, why worry? I think these bandits are weak and the imperial army will soon wipe them out. At that time, the Gongshu family, who have fallen into Sanghai, will still be under the rule of the empire." Su Jiao, a lieutenant general in the army, flattered the eldest son of the Wang family.

“That’s natural.” Wang Li’s lips curled up. Today, the Qi army took the initiative to enter Taiyuan to ambush the Qin army, but they were discovered by the battle-hardened armored scouts and launched a counterattack. “However, the enemy’s general’s troop deployment is quite interesting. They are not just simple bandits. We cannot let our guard down.”

“How can he be compared to the Supreme General?” Another lieutenant, Shejian, said sincerely. This was not flattery: Wang Li now held the merit of defeating the Wolf Clan and could be considered the Empire’s number one general.

As is well known, in recent decades, the quality of Qin's generals has far surpassed that of the six states of Shandong. Han Xin, an unknown figure, was not even of noble birth, so from any perspective, he could not possibly be compared to Wang Li.

"Hmm." Wang Li nodded reservedly: "The enemy army is short of horses, and all their actions are under the surveillance of our scouts. If they are really smart, they will have no choice but to retreat to Dai County."

"If that's the case, we'll be in trouble deciding whether to advance or retreat." Su Jiao also understood that Xianyang's order to the Great Wall Legion was to retreat to Guanzhong. Now that Wang Li could send troops to intercept the invading enemy, he had no reason to pursue them into Dai County.

"There might be a trap here," Shejian analyzed. "The rebel army has been in Yan territory for several months. Even if they were truly short of horses, they could have plundered equipment from over a thousand cavalrymen in the north, but today not a single one has been seen..."

“It’s understandable that a bunch of bumpkins would treat their few cavalrymen like precious treasures.” Wang Li crossed his arms and nodded. “Today, let’s just say they’re using their only treasure as an ambush.”

"Could we take advantage of their thoughts and turn the tables on them?" Shibuma thought the general's speculation was highly likely and immediately came up with a way to react.

Su Jiao nodded in agreement.

"No, anyone can do that." Wang Li looked into the distance; since he wasn't using the Sky Glasses, the battlefield was somewhat blurry to him at this moment.

"This stingy fighting style will only make us wait many more days to severely damage the enemy army. The time given by Xianyang is limited." Wang Li clenched his fist: "Our strength is so great that we are fully capable of turning the tide in one battle!"

"I see, I understand now!" Su Jiao and She Jian were very familiar with Wang Li. With the latter having already revealed so much information, the two immediately understood: Han Xin of the Qi army was showing weakness to the enemy, and the general's failure to pursue the victory today was also a way of showing weakness to the enemy!

In today's battle, Wang Li only revealed his battle-hardened armored soldiers and a small number of Anbei cavalry, not only leaving himself the strength to fight the enemy army, but also leaving space for the enemy army to surround him.

Once Han Xin takes the bait, the main force from the rear is probably already on its way to Taiyuan County!

"Is this the front line?"

As Jing Tianming donned his Qi army blue soft armor, he looked at the other tall and imposing Tongzes nearby and gradually began to feel excited.

This is the battlefield!

The spear, which was a head taller than him, was very inconvenient to wield. Tianming tried it out and swung it around: "Is this a lance? Are we going to have horses?"

The years spent in Xiaoshengxianzhuang broadened Tianming's understanding of the world, and he no longer embarrassed himself with some basic common sense.

Moreover, because the teachings at Xiaoshengxianzhuang were quite diverse, Tianming's understanding broadened considerably.

“Not bad, these are high-quality lances.” Xiang Yu was very familiar with the weapon in his hand. The Mabei Mountain was his natural stage: “We have been assigned to the elite team, and we will be tasked with breaking through the enemy lines as expected.”

"A big mission right from the start!" Tianming was very excited.

"With our abilities, isn't this just what we should do?" Xiang Yu proudly raised his head...

"Everyone, listen to my command! Three riders each! Head west!"

The next day, the cavalry captain's order made Xiang Yu's eyes light up at dawn: The west? Does it refer to Yunzhong County?

...

The war in the northern frontier has entered the stage of "the first battle is the decisive battle". Han Xin's initial defeat made several old farmers hesitate, but when it came to leading their soldiers to fight against the Great Wall Army, none of them could guarantee that they would do better than Han Xin.

If mishandling jeopardizes His Highness Prince Qi's grand plan, no one can bear the responsibility.

After returning to his 'second hometown,' Lu Shan devoted all his energy to mobilizing the disciples of Luqiu Pavilion in Yan. He had no objection to Han Xin being the commander-in-chief, and no one else would dare to question the King of Qi's orders.

In the southern Shu region, after Li Mu entered Shu, he quickly merged with Yu Ziqi of Shu Mountain. With the support of the Shu people, the Qi army, which recruited a large number of surrendered Qin soldiers, quickly took control of Shu and launched a probing attack on Hanzhong.

As a result, the Qin army stationed there collapsed in one battle, completely losing the entire Bashu region to the State of Qi.

The importance of Bashu to Qin is self-evident. For many years, there has even been the view that "Qin's unification of the six states began with Shu." Now that the entire Bashu region has been lost, another supply route to Guanzhong has been cut off.

The entire Guanzhong region could barely survive on the land it provided for its people, but don't forget that there were also millions of corvée laborers from Xianyang and Lishan to support.

Even if the State of Qi does not enter Guanzhong, simply by besieging it, it can turn the ancestral land of the Qin people into a hellish place.

While consolidating the Shu region, Li Mu did not rush to launch a northern expedition. He still had a concern to resolve: the 100,000 Qin troops in the Yue region of Lingnan.

According to His Highness Prince Qi's estimation, Zhao Tuo should have cut off the roads and held his ground in Lingnan, but the actual result was that, according to the scouts from Yue, Zhao Tuo seemed to also have the intention of launching a northern expedition into Shu.

The 100,000 Qin soldiers are not a life-or-death enemy for Li Mu now, but they can still be considered a formidable foe.

Only by eliminating the enemies here can we truly be free from worries about the future.

Chapter 432 Daring Not to Be the First in the World

"You mean they're marching north under the banner of anti-Qin?"

Yan Shen opened his mouth in surprise. Mei Xuan, a Yue man who entered the hall, nodded repeatedly: "That's right. According to our people's tracking, Zhao Tuo's army suddenly changed its flags after leaving Lingnan and then continued to march towards Shu."

“A hundred thousand anti-Qin allies…” Wu Rui, standing at the head of the group in the military tent, stroked his chin and speculated about Zhao Tuo’s actions: “This might be much more troublesome to deal with than a hundred thousand enemy troops.”

"Are they trying to use the pretext of rebelling against Qin to enter Shu?" Yu Ziqi, the representative of Shu Mountain, was now also wearing Qi army armor. "But we're not fools. How can we really consider them allies just because Zhao Tuo changed his flag at the last minute? We can just continue to attack him according to the original plan!"

In his view, the Qin army in Lingnan originally seemed eager to launch a northern expedition, but at the last minute they suddenly said that their target was their homeland, Qin, not the opposing Qi army. Who would believe such nonsense?

“No.” Li Mu, sitting in the commander’s seat, had bright eyes and looked very energetic: “We are the anti-Qin rebel army, how can we attack our allies?”

"Please report this matter to the King and ask him to make a decision."

Li Mu's views were very conservative, but everyone respected his position, and no one dared to say that his decision to "report to Lu Wei" was wrong, so no general opposed his decision.

However, if this drags on, the Qi army may not be able to advance from Hanzhong into Guanzhong.

Regardless of how Zhao Tuo is dealt with, the army's main focus will now be on the Lingnan region.

Wu Rui seemed to be deep in thought, gaining a deeper understanding of Li Mu's new position: it seemed his past experiences in the Zhao state had made this veteran general quite worldly-wise...

"The three treasures of Taoism are: first, compassion; second, frugality; and third, not daring to be the first in the world."

"Compassion leads to courage; frugality leads to abundance; not daring to be the first in the world leads to great achievements."